ASSEMBLY, No. 2568

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 12, 1996

 

 

By Assemblywoman MYERS

 

 

An Act amending and supplementing the title and body of P.L.1985, c.330 to authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to use bond moneys therefrom to provide grants to assist counties and public authorities with the payment of stranded investment costs; providing for the submission of this act to the people at a general election, and making an appropriation.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. The title of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

An Act to authorize the creation of a debt of the State of New Jersey by the issuance of bonds of the State in the aggregate principal amount of $85,000,000.00 to provide funds for [loans] grants to [local government units] assist counties and public authorities [for the construction of resource recovery facilities and environmentally sound sanitary landfill facilities] with the payment of stranded investment costs; authorizing the issuance of refunding bonds; providing the ways and means to pay the interest on the bonds and refunding bonds and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof; providing for submission of this act to the people at a general election: and providing an appropriation therefor.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, title)

 

    2. Section 2 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    2. The Legislature finds and declares that [an environmentally sound strategy for the disposal of solid waste is necessary for the protection of the public health and safety and the preservation of the State's natural resources; that the State should end its virtually exclusive reliance on traditional landfills as a solid waste disposal method and encourage the utilization of resource recovery facilities designed to simultaneously dispose of and recover the energy contained in solid waste; that for areas of the State where the construction of resource recovery facilities is not a feasible economic option, the State should encourage the construction of environmentally sound sanitary landfill facilities equipped with state-of-the-art pollution control systems; that the cost of constructing and operating a resource recovery facility or an environmentally sound sanitary landfill facility will significantly increase the cost of solid waste disposal above the historically low rates associated with the use of traditional landfills; that while the responsibility to plan for the rational and environmentally sound disposal of solid waste rests with solid waste management districts, the State has the responsibility to provide financial assistance to solid waste management districts in order to facilitate the transition to environmentally sound solid waste disposal methods; and that it is therefore in the public interest for the State to issue bonds and establish a Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund for the purpose of providing financial assistance to local government units for the construction of resource recovery facilities and environmentally sound sanitary landfill facilities] in response to the need to provide for the environmentally-sound and proper disposal of solid waste, the Legislature enacted the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), which required each county, or a public authority designated by the governing body of the county, to adopt and implement a district solid waste management plan for the disposal of solid waste generated within its geographic boundaries.

    The Legislature further finds and declares that several counties and public authorities fulfilled this State mandate through the construction and operation of capital-intensive resource recovery facilities, which were partially financed through zero interest State loans from the current bond act but primarily through revenue bonds supported by the enforcement of State and local waste flow control directives, by which the Department of Environmental Protection and the relevant county required local municipalities and solid waste haulers to utilize the designated solid waste facility for the disposal of solid waste generated within the county.

    The Legislature further finds and declares that the ability of each county or public authority to raise revenues sufficient to provide funds for repayment of the bonds issued to develop solid waste facilities, has been predicated on its legal authority to direct the flow of solid waste generated within the geographic boundaries of the county to designated solid waste facilities, thereby ensuring the economic viability of these capital-intensive facilities; and that waste flow control by counties and public authorities has been supported by statute, rules and regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection, and franchises awarded by the Board of Public Utilities.

    The Legislature further finds and declares that in the case of C & A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, N.Y. the U.S. Supreme Court has held that, without unambiguous congressional authorization, a state or local government's designation of the destination to which haulers must transport solid waste for processing or disposal is a violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution; that the Carbone decision has been reaffirmed by the Atlantic Coast Demolition & Recycling, Inc., et al. v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of Atlantic County et al. decision, which held that New Jersey's solid waste management system, including the Department of Environmental Protection's waste flow rules, interferes with interstate commerce, and that the State cannot direct municipalities or haulers to designated solid waste facilities in New Jersey due to the unconstitutional nature of New Jersey's solid waste management system, including the waste flow rules; and that the Atlantic Coast ruling on July 15, 1996 gives the State, counties and public authorities two years to implement a constitutionally acceptable system for solid waste management.

    The Legislature further finds and declares that counties and public authorities must be able, under all circumstances, to collect revenues sufficient to recover the stranded investment costs incurred in developing costly resource recovery facilities for the purposes of implementing State-mandated district solid waste management plans.

    The Legislature therefore determines that it is the public policy of the State of New Jersey to furnish financial assistance to counties and public authorities for the payment of stranded investment costs by means of a grant program hereinafter established therefor.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, s.2)

 

    3. Section 3 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    3. As used in this act:

    [a.] "Bonds" means the bonds authorized to be issued, or issued, under this act;

    [b.] "Commission" means the New Jersey Commission on Capital Budgeting and Planning;

    [c.] "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection;

    [d.] "Construct" and "construction" mean, in addition to the usual meanings thereof, the designing, engineering, financing, extension, repair, remodeling, or rehabilitation, or any combination thereof, of a resource recovery facility or an environmentally sound sanitary landfill facility or any component part thereof;

    [e.] "Cost" means the expenses incurred in connection with: the acquisition by purchase, lease or otherwise, the development, and the construction of any project authorized by this act; the acquisition by purchase, lease or otherwise, and the development of any real or personal property for use in connection with any project authorized by this act, including any rights or interests therein; the execution of any agreements and franchises deemed by the department to be necessary or useful and convenient in connection with any project authorized by this act; the procurement of engineering, inspection, planning, legal, financial or other professional services, including the services of a bond registrar or an authenticating agent; the issuance of bonds, or any interest or discount thereon; the administrative, organizational, operating or other expenses incident to the financing, completing and placing into service of projects authorized by this act; the establishment of a reserve fund or funds for working capital, operating, maintenance or replacement expenses and for the payment or security, principal or interest on bonds, as the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury may determine; and reimbursement to any fund of the State of moneys which may have been transferred or advanced therefrom to any fund created by this act, or of any moneys which may have been expended therefrom for or in connection with any project authorized by this act; except that, in connection with stranded investments, "cost" means, in addition to the aforementioned connotations thereof, any expenses related to the planning, acquisition, construction, operation and maintenance of resource recovery facilities, including debt service on bonds issued by public authorities to finance resource recovery facilities;

    [f.] "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;

    [g.] "Environmentally sound sanitary landfill facility" means a sanitary landfill facility which is equipped with a liner or liners, a leachate control and collection system, and a groundwater pollution monitoring system, or any other pollution control or other engineering device required by the department pursuant to law or rule and regulation, and which is identified and included in a district solid waste management plan pursuant to the provisions of the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.);

    [h.] "Government securities" means any bonds or other obligations which as to principal and interest constitute direct obligations of, or are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States, including obligations of any federal agency to the extent those obligations are unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America and any certificates or any other evidences of an ownership interest in those obligations of, or unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States or in specified portions of those obligations, which may consist of the principal of, or the interest on, those obligations;

    [i.] "Local government unit" means a county, [municipality, municipal or county utility authority,] public authority or any other political subdivision of the State authorized to construct or operate a resource recovery facility or an environmentally sound sanitary landfill facility;

    [j.] "Project" means any work relating to the construction of a resource recovery facility or an environmentally sound sanitary landfill facility by a local government unit;

    "Public authority" means any municipal or county utilities authority created pursuant to the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.); county improvement authority created pursuant to the "county improvement authorities law," P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-44 et seq.); pollution control financing authority created pursuant to the "New Jersey Pollution Control Financing Law," P.L.1973, c.376 (C.40:37C-1 et seq.), or any other public body corporate and politic created for solid waste management purposes in any county, pursuant to the provisions of any law;

    [k.] "Resource recovery facility" means a solid waste facility constructed and operated for the incineration of solid waste for energy production and the recovery of metals and other materials for reuse[,]; or a mechanized composting facility, or any other [solid waste] facility constructed or operated for the collection, separation, recycling, and recovery of metals, glass, paper, and other materials for reuse or for energy production, and which is identified and included in a district solid waste management plan pursuant to the provisions of the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.);

    [l.] "Sanitary landfill facility" means a solid waste facility at which solid waste is deposited on or in the land as fill for the purpose of permanent disposal or storage for a period exceeding six months;

    "Solid waste facilities"means and includes the plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by, or on behalf of, any person, public authority or county for, or with respect to, the implementation of a district solid waste management plan required pursuant to the provisions of the “Solid Waste Management Act,” P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) or any other act, including transfer stations, incinerators, resource recovery facilities, sanitary landfill facilities or other plants for the disposal of solid waste, and all vehicles, equipment and other real and personal property and rights therein and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the collection or disposal of solid waste in a sanitary manner;

    "Stranded investment costs" means the cost of stranded investments;

    "Stranded investments" means any resource recovery facility acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by, or on behalf of, any person, public authority or county for, or with respect to, the implementation of a district solid waste management plan required pursuant to the provisions of the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) or any other act, which resource recovery facility has been financed, in whole or in part, through a zero interest State loan made from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" established pursuant to section 14 of P.L.1985, c.330.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, s.3)

 

    4. Section 4 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    4. The commissioner shall adopt, pursuant to law, any rules [and] or regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act, as amended and supplemented by P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill). The commissioner shall review and consider the findings and recommendations of the commission in implementing the provisions of this act, as amended and supplemented by P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill).

 

    5. Section 5 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    5. [a.] Bonds of the State of New Jersey are authorized to be issued in the aggregate principal amount of $85,000,000.00 for the purpose of [making low interest or zero interest State loans to local government units for financing the construction of resource recovery facilities and environmentally sound sanitary landfill facilities] providing funds for grants to assist counties and public authorities with the payment of stranded investment costs.

    [b.] Payments of principal and interest on loans made from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" prior to the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill) shall be made to the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund."

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, s.5)

 

    6. Section 10 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    10. a. The bonds shall recite that they are issued for the purposes set forth in section 5 of this act, that they are issued pursuant to this act, that this act was submitted to the people of the State at the general election held in the month of November, 1985, and that this act was approved by a majority of the legally qualified voters of the State voting thereon at the election. [This recital] The bonds shall also recite, if issued after the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill), that the amendments and supplements to P.L.1985, c.330 were submitted to the people of the State at the general election held in the month of November, 1997, and were approved by a majority of the legally qualified voters of the State voting thereon. These recitals shall be conclusive evidence of the validity of the bonds and of the authority of the State to issue them. Any bonds containing [this recital] the recitals shall, in any suit, action or proceeding involving their validity, be conclusively deemed to be fully authorized by this act and to have been issued, sold, executed and delivered in conformity herewith and with all other provisions of laws applicable thereto, and shall be incontestable for any cause.

    b. The bonds shall be issued in [such] those denominations and in [such] the form or forms, whether coupon, fully-registered or book-entry, and with or without provisions for the interchangeability thereof, as may be determined by the issuing officials.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, s.10)

 

    7. Section 14 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    14. The proceeds from the sale of the bonds authorized pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1985, c.330 shall be paid to the State Treasurer[, to be held thereby] for deposit in a separate fund, which shall be known as the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund[.]," [The proceeds of this fund shall be deposited in such depositories as may be selected by the State Treasurer to the credit of the fund] for use by the department as hereinafter provided.

    The department is authorized to use moneys in the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" to cover administrative expenses incurred in implementing the provisions of this act, as amended and supplemented by P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill), subject to the annual appropriation thereof by the Legislature.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, s.14)

 

    8. Section 15 of P.L.1985, c.330 is amended to read as follows:

    15. a. The moneys in the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" are specifically dedicated and shall be applied to [the cost of] the purposes set forth in section 5 of [this act] P.L.1985, c.330, and all such moneys are appropriated for those purposes[, and]. However, no [such] moneys in the fund shall be expended for those purposes, except as otherwise authorized by this act, without the specific appropriation thereof by the Legislature, but bonds may be issued as herein provided, notwithstanding that the Legislature [has] shall not have then adopted an act making a specific appropriation of any of the moneys. Any act appropriating moneys from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" shall identify the [specific project or projects to be funded with those moneys and the amount and terms and conditions of any loan made from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund."] county or public authority to be provided with a grant to assist that local government unit with the payment of stranded investment costs.

    b. At any time prior to the issuance and sale of bonds under this act, the State Treasurer is authorized to transfer from any available [money] moneys in any fund of the treasury of the State to the credit of the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" [such] those sums as [he] the State Treasurer may deem necessary. The [sum] sums so transferred shall be returned to the same fund of the treasury of the State by the State Treasurer from the proceeds of the sale of the first issue of bonds.

    c. Pending their application to the purposes provided in [this act] P.L.1985, c.330 or P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill), the moneys in the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" may be invested and reinvested as are other trust funds in the custody of the State Treasurer, in the manner provided by law. Net earnings received from the investment or deposit of moneys in the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" shall be paid into the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.330, s.15)

 

    9. (New section) a. The commissioner shall for each fiscal year develop a priority system for providing grants to assist counties and public authorities in the payment of stranded investment costs and shall establish the ranking criteria and funding policies therefor. The commissioner shall set forth a priority list for funding for each fiscal year and shall include the aggregate amount of funds to be authorized for these purposes. Eligibility of a county or public authority for a grant to be included on the priority list shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection b. of this section. The priority list shall include an explanation of the manner in which priorities were established. The priority system and priority list for the ensuing fiscal year shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 15 of each year.

    b. In order to be eligible for a grant, a county or public authority shall prepare a plan to reduce the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal. The plan shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, provisions concerning:

    (1) the assumption by the governing body of the county of some or all of the administrative costs of implementing its district solid waste management plan;

    (2) the proper delegation to municipalities of the costs of certain county solid waste services, including, but not limited to, recycling or household hazardous waste management, which are currently part of the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal;

    (3) the refinancing of debt to reduce the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal;

    (4) any other arrangements as may be necessary to reduce the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal; or

    (5) the prudent application of grant moneys to the plan prepared by the county or public authority to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the resource recovery facility as well as the payment of debt service obligations.

    No moneys shall be expended for grants during a fiscal year for any county or public authority unless the expenditure is authorized pursuant to an appropriations act.

    c. As part of the annual submission required by this section, the department shall provide a financial accounting of all expenditures made in the preceding year, and of all administrative expenses incurred by the department in administering the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund."

 

    10. (New section) a. The provisions of any other law, or of any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, the unexpended balance of those moneys heretofore appropriated to the department from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" for the purpose of providing an interest-free loan to Bergen county for the design, acquisition and construction of a resource recovery facility pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1985, c.335, the unexpended balance of those moneys heretofore appropriated to the department from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" for the purpose of providing an interest-free loan to Passaic county for the design, acquisition and construction of a resource recovery facility pursuant to P.L.1988, c.86, the unexpended balance of those moneys heretofore appropriated to the department from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" for the purpose of providing an interest-free loan to the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority for the design, acquisition and construction of a resource recovery facility pursuant to P.L.1993, c.285, the unexpended balance of those moneys heretofore appropriated to the department from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" for the purpose of providing an interest-free loan to Burlington county for the design, acquisition and construction of a resource recovery facility pursuant to P.L.1993, c.352, and the unexpended balance of those moneys heretofore appropriated to the department from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" for the purpose of providing an interest-free loan to the Mercer County Improvement Authority for the design, acquisition and construction of a resource recovery facility pursuant to P.L.1993, c.369, shall revert to the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund," and may be appropriated therefrom for any purpose authorized under P.L.1985, c.330, as amended and supplemented by P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill).

    b. On and after the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill), all moneys accruing to the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" from the repayment of principal and interest on loans made pursuant to P.L.1985, c.330, all moneys accruing to that fund pursuant to P.L.1985, c.331, and any interest earned on the management of moneys in that fund, shall be reserved for appropriation for any grants to assist counties and public authorities with the payment of stranded investment costs authorized under P.L. , c. (pending in the Legislature as this bill).

    c. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impede the State Treasurer in fulfilling his responsibility under section 17 of P.L.1985, c.330.

 

    11. (New section) For the purpose of complying with the provisions of the State Constitution, this amendatory and supplementary act shall be submitted to the people at the general election to be held in the month of November, 1997. To inform the people of the contents of this amendatory and supplementary act, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, after this section takes effect, and at least 60 days prior to the election, to cause this amendatory and supplementary act to be published at least once in one or more newspapers of each county, if any newspapers are published therein, and to notify the clerk of each county of this State of the passage of this amendatory and supplementary act; and the clerks respectively, in accordance with the instructions of the Secretary of State, shall have printed on each of the ballots the following:

    If you approve of the act entitled below, make a cross (X), plus (+), or check () mark in the square opposite the word "Yes."

    If you disapprove of the act entitled below, make a cross (X), plus (+), or check () mark in the square opposite the word "No."

    If voting machines are used, a vote of "Yes" or "No" shall be equivalent to these markings respectively.





 

 

AMENDS AND SUPPLEMENTS RESOURCE RECOVERY AND SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITY BOND ACT OF 1985











 

YES

Shall the amendments and supplementary language to the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Bond Act of 1985," which provide funds for grants to assist counties and public authorities with the payment of stranded investment costs associated with the construction of resource recovery facilities, and which authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to use bond moneys to cover administrative costs incurred therewith, subject to the annual appropriation thereof by the Legislature, be approved?

 
















































 


NO

INTERPRETIVE STATEMENT


These revisions to the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Bond Act of 1985" would allow funds made available by the 1985 bond act to be used for grants to help counties and public authorities pay off stranded investment costs resulting from the construction and operation of State-mandated resource recovery facilities. Funds made available by this act would include loan repayments, moneys allocated for canceled resource recovery facility projects, interest earnings from the investment of moneys in the fund, and the remaining moneys in the fund. Resource recovery facilities are expensive to construct and operate, and a significant public debt resulted. The fees and charges received at these facilities were calculated to pay off this debt, and when the State was able to direct solid waste generated within county borders to a county facility, the debt payment through the fees and charges was secure. But the United States Supreme Court has ruled

that state and local governments cannot require the use of in-state facilities to dispose of local solid waste. Now resource recovery facilities cannot compete with less expensive out-of-state solid waste disposal facilities. This places the large public investment in resource recovery facilities at risk. These bond funds would help counties and public authorities meet a portion of the debt that would be borne by users of resource recovery facilities, thus improving the financial situation of these facilities while protecting the public funds already invested in them.

The grant program would be administered by the Department of Environmental Protection. It is proposed that the Department be permitted to cover its administrative costs out of bond moneys, if the Legislature appropriates the moneys each year.

Approval of these revisions to the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Bond Act of 1985" would not involve any new State bonded indebtedness.

 

    The fact and date of the approval or passage of this amendatory and supplementary act, as the case may be, may be inserted in the appropriate place after the title in the ballot. No other requirements of law of any kind or character as to notice or procedure, except as herein provided, need be adhered to.

    The votes so cast for and against the approval of this amendatory and supplementary act, by ballot or voting machine, shall be counted and the result thereof returned by the election officer, and a canvass of the election had in the same manner as is provided for by law in the case of the election of a Governor, and the approval or disapproval of this act so determined shall be declared in the same manner as the result of an election for a Governor, and if there is a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at the election in favor of the approval of this amendatory and supplementary act, then all the provisions thereof not made effective theretofore shall take effect forthwith.

 

    12. (New section) There is appropriated from the General Fund the sum of $5,000 to the Department of State for expenses in connection with the publication of the notice pursuant to section 11 of this act.

 

    13. Section 11 and 12 of this act shall take effect immediately, and the remainder of the act shall take effect as and when provided in section 11 of this act.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill would revise the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Bond Act of 1985," (P.L.1985, c.330) to authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to use bond moneys in the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund" established therein for grants to counties and public authorities to assist these local governments in the payment of stranded investment costs associated with the development of State-mandated resource recovery facilities.

    On May 16, 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its first-ever waste flow control case, Carbone v. Town of Clarkstown, held that, without unambiguous congressional authorization, a state or local government's regulation of where haulers must transport solid waste for processing or disposal is a violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Carbone decision has been reaffirmed by the Atlantic Coast Demolition & Recycling, Inc., et al. v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of Atlantic County et al. decision, which held that New Jersey's solid waste management system, including the Department of Environmental Protection's waste flow rules, interferes with interstate commerce, and that the State cannot direct municipalities or haulers to designated solid waste facilities in New Jersey due to the unconstitutional nature of New Jersey's solid waste management system, including the waste flow rules; and that the Atlantic Coast ruling on July 15, 1996 gives the State, counties and public authorities two years to implement a constitutionally acceptable system for solid waste management. Consequently, all operating and proposed resource recovery facilities in New Jersey have lost the guaranteed waste flows that ensure the economic viability of these solid waste incinerators, and the counties and public authorities that have financed these so-called "stranded investments," primarily through revenue bonds, together with interest-free State loans from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund," now face financial disaster.

    In response to this crisis, and in view of the State's role in mandating the development of these facilities, it is imperative that the State provide financial assistance to counties and public authorities for the payment of stranded investment costs by means of a grant program utilizing bond moneys from the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund."

    Approximately $65 million in bond moneys are available from repayments of certain loans, canceled resource recovery facility projects, and cash earned from the investment of amounts in the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Fund." If approved by the voters, these moneys would be used to assist counties and public authorities that have incurred bonded indebtedness in developing resource recovery facilities, all of which have been financed, in part, from interest-free loan moneys provided to these local governments under the current bond act. The grant program would be administered by the Department of Environmental Protection. It is proposed that the Department be permitted to cover its administrative costs out of bond moneys, if the Legislature appropriates the moneys each year.

    In order to qualify for a grant, a county or public authority must prepare a plan to reduce the solid waste charges ("tipping fees") received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal. The plan must include, but not necessarily be limited to, provisions concerning: (1) the assumption by the governing body of the county of some or all of the administrative costs of implementing its district solid waste management plan; (2) the proper delegation to municipalities of the costs of certain county solid waste services, including, but not limited to, recycling or household hazardous waste management, which are currently part of the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal; (3) the refinancing of debt to reduce the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal; (4) any other arrangements as may be necessary to reduce the solid waste charges received at the resource recovery facility for solid waste disposal; or

(5) the prudent application of grant moneys to the plan prepared by the county or public authority to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the resource recovery facility as well as the payment of debt service obligations.


                             

Revises the "Resource Recovery and Solid Waste Disposal Facility Bond Act of 1985," appropriates $5,000.